Maine Sea Grant

The Maine Healthy Beaches Program is a statewide effort to monitor water quality and protect public health on Maine’s coastal beaches. Funded by the US EPA, the program is a unique partnership between the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (ME DEP) and municipalities/state parks, state and federal agencies, nonprofit organizations, and citizen volunteers. Since the establishment of […]

Maine Climate Change Adaptation Provider’s Network Marine Ocean and Coastal Acidification Partnership (MOCA) Collaborating Toward Climate Solutions Coastal Community Adaptation Strategies in a Changing Climate Cost-Efficient Adaptation Planning in the North Atlantic Preparing for a Changing Climate: The State of Adaptation Planning in Maine’s Coastal Communities R-12-08 Coastal infrastructure resilience in a changing climate Coastal […]

Each year, bacterial contamination forces the closure of hundreds of acres of clam flats in southern Maine. These are the same bacteria that can pose a health risk at popular swimming beaches. Fecal coliform and E. coli bacteria are used as indicators that other, more harmful, pathogens may be present in coastal waters. But since […]

The overall objective of the program is to contribute to the protection and rebuilding of Atlantic halibut, Hippoglossus hippoglossus, by enabling the collection and analyses of basic biological and ecological data essential for the long-term sustainable management of this species. Click here for an in-depth PDF presentation about this project. For more information, contact Chris […]

The goal of this project, led by the Maine Department of Marine Resources, is to conserve and restore wild populations of rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax), within the U.S. Gulf of Maine watershed. This anadromous fish is listed by the National Marine Fisheries Service as a species of concern as a result of over-harvest, water quality […]

Research and extension colleagues in the northeast have teamed up with shellfish farmers to create a network of commercial farms that are doubling as research stations, with the goal of improving shellfish production equipment and husbandry. The NARF-Net project is funded through NOAA Office of Aquaculture and the National Sea Grant program; the Project Leaders […]

Working Waterfront Access: A Forum on Challenges and Solutions, University of Maine Darling Marine Center, Walpole, Maine, December 17, 2003 On December 17, 2003, the Gulf of Maine Foundation, Maine Sea Grant Marine Extension Team (MET), Maine Coastal Program, and Island Institute co-sponsored a forum, Working Waterfront Access 2003, at the Darling Marine Center in […]

In 2002, Sea Grant MET member and expedition team leader, Natalie Springuel, embarked on a five-month sea kayaking journey called the Gulf of Maine Expedition. She and six additional team members and program staff organized the journey along the entire coast of the Gulf of Maine, from Provincetown, MA, to Cape Sable Island, N.S. The […]

Natalie Springuel and other MET members are working with communities on bay-related issues throughout the state. In Frenchman Bay in 2005 and 2006, Sea Grant partnered with a nonprofit organization in Mount Desert, ME, called the Mount Desert Island Water Quality Coalition (MDIWQC) to sponsor “The Ambassadors of the Bay,” mini-expeditions modeled after the 2002 […]

Extension Associate Dana Morse is working with Boothbay Harbor fishermen Kelo Pinkham and Stanley Coffin, in their efforts to reduce bycatch, improve energy efficiency, and improve mesh size enforceability in trawl nets. The study, entitled “Sea Trials to Assess Knotless Mesh Codend Selectivity,” is enabled through a $46,180 grant from the Northeast Consortium. The size, […]